Grill

ABSTRACT

The invention is a barbecue consisting of a base with an extension at its top side, a hollow-cylindrical center part attached to the base, one or several rests attached to this hollow-cylindrical center part and several coal pans inserted in the rests. 
     Furthermore, the barbecue has a hollow-cylindrical upper part attached to the center part. This upper part is equipped with cutouts in which one or several gridirons are inserted. The upper part can be rotated in relation to the center part. The extension of the base, the hollow-cylindrical center part and the hollow-cylindrical upper part form a columnar and vertical axis of the barbecue.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Application No.200 11 385.2 filed Jun. 29, 2000. Applicant also claims priority under35 U.S.C. §365 of PCT/EP01/07368 filed Jun. 28, 2001. The internationalapplication under PCT article 21(2) was not published in English.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention is a barbecue.

2. The Prior Art

U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,076 mentions a barbecue whose height is adjustableby means of specific devices. This barbecue is equipped with a vertical,square cross-sectional center part which, at its corners, has horizontalcutouts placed at an offset to one another in the vertical direction. Agridiron can be inserted in these cutouts.

DE-A1-20 41 614 mentions a charcoal barbecue which is equipped with apan mounted on a support. This pan has holes for air circulation and canbe detached, rotated and locked, if required, and it includes acontainer for fuel, which is open at the top and does not have anycontact to the ground. This container is made of perforated sheet metalor a similar material, and it can be moved in the direction of thetransverse axis of the barbecue. Furthermore, this barbecue has a coverwhich is not closed at the front and which slopes to the rear like aroof. This cover can be attached to the pan and is provided as aseparable means for attaching a rotating spit or gridiron.

DE-U1-296 12 848 mentions a barbecue consisting of a frame and severalaccessories connected to this frame. These accessories include agridiron, a pan for the coals and a plate which is attachable to theframe and where you can place food, for example. The frame consists ofat least two two-segment stands with a connecting segment and a freesegment each. The stands are non-rigidly connected to one another bymeans of the connecting segments and have uniform locking elements. Theaccessories are sector-shaped and are also equipped with lockingelements which can be connected to the corresponding locking elements ofthe stands. The stands and the accessories form a basic barbecue modulewhich can optionally be expanded by at least another stand of the samekind and at least another sector-shaped accessory. Based on the numberof accessories, the barbecue device forms a full circle.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,508 mentions a barbecue equipped with a barbecuingsurface which can easily be installed and removed.

Moreover, DE-C-501 633 mentions a barbecue equipped with a coal gratesupported by a frame. The height of this grate is adjustable andattachable to the frame. A removable gridiron is mounted on the top ofthe frame.

Usual charcoal barbecues have a coal pan mounted on a base. At the topof the barbecue a gridiron is provided on which the food to be barbecuedis placed.

Problems of usual barbecues are that after a certain time of barbecuing,coal has to be replenished to ensure that the heat required forbarbecuing is provided. For the replenishing procedure it is essentialto remove the gridiron from the barbecue and place it at an appropriateplace, ensuring that the food is not exposed to smoke. As the gridironis hot and as appropriate places for depositing it are usually notavailable, this depositing procedure causes problems. The gridironcannot be placed on the barbecue again until the coals replenished arered-hot.

Further problems of usual barbecues are that food which is done but notrequired at the moment has to be deposited at a place where it neitherburns nor cools down too quickly. Thus, the food is often placed at aside of the gridiron or it is often put in a dish made of aluminum. Butin practice, the temperature is also very high there so that the foodbecomes dry, resulting in a loss of quality.

Furthermore, food of different kind is often barbecued simultaneously.But as food of different kind is not done at the same time, the problemsmentioned above are intensified.

There is a number of barbecues which are equipped with a gridiron whoseheight is adjustable in relation to the coal pan. If required, the foodcan be moved towards or away from the red-hot coals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is based on the task of finding a way to avoid thedisadvantages mentioned above.

This task is achieved by a barbecue as presented herein.

Its advantages include the following features: when the food is done, ithas not to be moved piece by piece to a place where the temperature islower but it can be removed from too much heat by simply rotating thegridiron in relation to the coals. If required, it is also possible torotate the gridiron in relation to the coals so that the food issubjected to a higher temperature. Furthermore, the pans can be filledwith coal whenever this is required, ensuring that the barbecuingprocess is not interrupted.

When coals have to be replenished, this can be done without interruptingthe barbecuing process: one of the coal pans is removed from its rest,this coal pan is filled with coal, and then it is placed again on itsrest. The barbecuing process does not need to be interrupted as theremaining coals in the other pans are still able to provide for the heatrequired for the barbecuing process.

To make a part of a gridiron available for depositing food which is donebut must not become too dry, it is possible to leave one of the coalpans empty. Thus, the food which is done can be placed in the regionvertically above this coal pan.

To account for the different ranges of temperature required for food ofdifferent kind, the available gridirons can be attached to thecylinder-shaped top part of the barbecue at different heights.

A barbecue according to this invention can be disassembled quickly andeasily, and as a set of components it can be transported in aspace-saving manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantageous properties of this invention result from thefollowing example based on figures:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a barbecue according to this invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the barbecue along the line A—Adisplayed in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a barbecue according to this invention.This figure also includes gridirons attached to the barbecue atdifferent heights.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a barbecue according to this invention. Thisfigure also includes gridirons attached to the barbecue at differentheights.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a barbecue according to this invention. Thebarbecue displayed has a cross-shaped base 1 which is equipped with fourtubular feet 1 b, which are inserted in the connecting pieces 1 c of thecross-shaped base. The connecting pieces and thus, the feet are placedat an offset of 90 degrees to one another. At the top side of the base,a tubular or hollow-cylindrical extension 2 is provided. Rolls or wheelscan be attached to two or to all the four feet so that the barbecue canbe moved during the barbecuing process; for example, when it starts torain.

A hollow-cylindrical center part 3 is attached to the extension 2, withthe diameter of the center part 3 being larger than the diameter of theextension 2. Thus, the center part 3 encloses the extension 2 at leastpartially. The bottom of the center part 3 rests on a stopper 1 a of thebase, preventing the center part from sliding down.

The center part 3 has cutouts in which rests 5 are inserted. Preferablya total of four rests 5 is provided. These four rests 5 are arrangednext to one another on the circumference of the center part 3. A coalpan 6 is inserted in each of these rests 5. These coal pans can befilled with as much coal as required, and this refilling process cantake place whenever this is required during the barbecuing process.

It is also possible to attach the coal pans 6 directly to the centerpart 3. This alternative, which is not displayed in the drawing, doesnot require rests 5.

According to FIG. 2, which shows a section of the barbecue along theline A—A displayed in FIG. 1, each coal pan has the shape of a quartercircle so that in plan view the coal pans form a full circle consistingof four coal pans.

The rests 5 including the coal pans and the center part 3, to which therests 5 are attached, can be turned around the extension 2. Thus, duringthe barbecuing process, the coal pans can be moved in relation to thefood located above the pans. This rotation is preferably done manuallyand serves to position the food so that it is subjected to the righttemperature.

A hollow-cylindrical upper part 7 is attached to the hollow-cylindricalcenter part 3. This upper part 7 is closed at its top only, or it isequipped with a cover. The diameter of the hollow-cylindrical upper part7 is larger than the diameter of the hollow-cylindrical center part 3 sothat the upper part 7 encloses the center part 3 at least partially. Thecenter part 3 has a stopper 4 on which the bottom of the upper part 7rests.

The upper part 7 has a number of cutouts 8. In this example, the cutoutsare arranged in four vertical rows placed at an offset of 90 degrees.Gridirons 9 equipped with hooks can be inserted in these cutouts 8. Inthis example, a total of four gridirons 9 is provided, and each gridironhas the shape of a quarter circle.

The four gridirons 9 can be arranged next to one another at the sameheight so that they form a circle in plan view. But during thebarbecuing process, the height of each gridiron can be adjusted byinserting it in a higher or lower cutout of the upper part 7.

Thus various temperature ranges required for barbecuing food ofdifferent kind and of different size are achieved.

The upper part 7 can also be rotated in relation to the center part 3.

During the barbecuing process, the gridirons 9 including the upper part7, to which the gridirons are attached, can manually be moved inrelation to the coal pans. This is done by turning a gridiron 9 or arest 5.

As described above, different ranges of temperature can be obtained byrotating the gridirons and thus, the food placed on them or by turningthe coal pans. Furthermore, smoke which may arise can be avoided bysimply rotating the gridirons and/or coal pans, and this movement doesnot affect the barbecuing process negatively.

Another advantage of the barbecue according to this invention is that ifsmall amounts of food are to be barbecued, it is possible to use onecoal pan and one gridiron only. Thus, the unused coal pans and gridironsare not soiled so that they do not have to be cleaned.

Moreover, another advantage is that the upper part 7 can be designed sothat it is open at the top. Thus, a bar of an umbrella can be insertedin the upper part. This option of using an umbrella ensures that abarbecuing process can be continued even when it starts to rain.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a barbecue according to thisinvention, with gridirons being attached to the barbecue at differentheights. FIG. 4 is a side view of a barbecue according to thisinvention, with gridirons being attached to the barbecue at differentheights.

What is claimed is:
 1. A grill comprising: (a) a base provided with anextension at a top side of said base; (b) a hollow cylindrical middlepart connected to said base; (c) a plurality of trays for charcoalconnected to said middle part; and (d) a hollow cylindrical upper parthaving recesses for receiving one or more grill grids, said upper partbeing rotatable in relation to said middle part; wherein said extension,said middle part and said upper part form a column-shaped vertical axisof the grill.
 2. The grill according to claim 1 wherein said base has across shape.
 3. The grill according to claim 2 further comprising fourconnecting pieces provided in said base and offset from each other by 90degrees and four foot parts, each foot part being inserted in arespective one of said connecting pieces.
 4. The grill according toclaim 1 wherein said middle part has a diameter larger than the diameterof the extension so that said middle part at least partially enclosessaid extension.
 5. The grill according to claim 1 wherein said middlepart is rotatable in relation to said base.
 6. The grill according toclaim 1 wherein said middle part has recesses into which supports areinserted.
 7. The grill according to claim 6 wherein four supports areinserted in the recesses of said middle part.
 8. The grill according toclaim 7 wherein said plurality of trays comprises four trays having aquarter circular shape.
 9. The grill according to claim 1 furthercomprising grill grids inserted in the recesses of said upper part. 10.The grill according to claim 1 wherein said upper part has a diameterlarger than the diameter of the middle part so that said upper part atleast partially encloses said middle part.
 11. The grill according toclaim 1 wherein said upper part is rotatable in relation to the middlepart.
 12. The grill according to claim 1 further comprising four grillgrids having a quarter circular shape.
 13. The grill according to claim1 wherein said upper part has four vertical rows of recesses offset fromeach other by 90 degrees.
 14. The grill according to claim 1 whereinsaid upper part is adapted to receive the grill grids at differentheights.
 15. The grill according to claim 1 wherein said base has astopper up to which said middle part is attachable to said base.
 16. Thegrill according to claim 1 wherein said middle part has a stopper up towhich said upper part is attachable to said middle part.
 17. The grillaccording to claim 1 wherein said grill is formed from a set ofcomponents comprising a plurality of foot parts, a part comprising aplurality of connecting pieces and an extension, a hollow cylindricalmiddle parts, a plurality of supports, a plurality of trays forcharcoal, a hollow cylindrical upper part with a plurality of recessesand a plurality of grill grids.
 18. The grill according to claim 1further comprising one or more supports connected to the middle part forreceipt of said trays.
 19. The grill according to claim 1 furthercomprising an umbrella inserted in said upper part.